Obama urged black people to mobilize support for Harris

Former US President Barack Obama made a strong call to black people to support the Democratic Party candidate.

During an unannounced stop at Harris’ campaign office in Pennsylvania, he chided male voters for “coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses” for not supporting a woman for president. .

Obama later mocked Donald Trump for his “crazy conspiracy theories, two-hour speeches, jumbled words” as he launched his 2024 campaign.

Also on Thursday, the Republican candidate spoke in battleground Michigan, warning of “chaos” for the entire country if Harris is elected.

With just 25 days to go until election night in the US, the presidential race is tighter than ever – and the winner will likely be determined by ballots in several closely contested states in the Midwest and Southwest.

Harris is looking to consolidate support among black voters, but a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) poll in September indicated that one in four black men One person under 50 said they would support Trump over Harris in November.

Obama, the nation’s first black president, cited ongoing sexism as to why the hesitation “seems to be more pronounced with brothers.”

“I have a problem with that,” he said. “Because part of it made me think — and I’m talking directly to men — part of it made me think, well, you’re not feeling that idea.” about having a woman as president and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”

Reviewing Harris’s policy proposals, Obama added that she is “someone who grew up like you, knows you, went to college with you, understands the hardships, pain and joy that come from those experiences,” while Trump “has always shown contempt, not just for the community, but for you as a human being”.

But Democrat Nina Turner, a former representative for Bernie Sanders, questioned why black men are “lectured to” and “looked down on in ways that no other voting group is.”

“There’s a lot of love for former President Obama right now, but for him to criticize black people is wrong,” Turner told CNN.

The former president remains a popular figure in the Democratic Party and, when he headlined a Harris rally in Pittsburgh later, he sought to energize supporters with a harsh attack on Trump.

At one point comparing him to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, Obama said “Trump’s behavior, his bullying and demonizing people… is not real power and never has been.”

“Get out of your chair and vote. Put down your phone and vote. Get your friends and family to vote,” he said.

Harris herself was campaigning Thursday in Nevada, where she is trying to shore up support among Latino voters who could swing the race in her favor there.

Meanwhile, Trump brought his own campaign message to Detroit, Michigan’s largest city and the center of America’s auto manufacturing.

Addressing an audience at the Economic Club of Detroit, he spoke for more than an hour on a variety of topics from voting rules to tariffs on China, with much of his speech focusing on claims that the domestic auto industry is failing.

He accused the Biden-Harris administration of “destroying our country”, adding that years of weak leadership had allowed big companies to “come in and rape our country”.

Trump also introduced a new tax deduction for auto loan interest, one of a series of populist-friendly economic proposals he proposed in the final stages of the campaign. nominated.

But those comments were overshadowed by a moment in which the three-time Republican candidate criticized the city he is in and where he is seeking voter support.

“I don’t think anything we’re talking about today is noble.” [Harris’s] list. The whole country will be like this, do you want to know the truth?”, he said.

“It’ll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up like Detroit if she’s your president. Your hands will be a mess.”

State and local leaders criticized the comments, with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer defending the city as “the epitome of ‘resilience,’ defined by ready-made winners.” willing to get their hands dirty building their cities and creating their communities – something Donald Trump could never understand”.

“So keep quiet about Detroit,” said Whitmer, a Harris ally. And you better believe Detroiters won’t forget this come November.”

The Trump campaign later clarified to American media that Trump was arguing that the city had “suffered from the globalization policies advocated by Kamala Harris” and that “his policies will usher in a new era of success and economic stability for Detroit, helping the city reach its full potential.” potential”.

On Friday, Trump will focus on illegal immigration – a topic that polls show voters trust he will handle better than Harris – when he visits Aurora, Colorado – a city which some Republicans say is being overrun by Venezuelan migrant gangs.

He will also speak in Nevada, while Harris plans to speak in adjacent Arizona.